Bribes, Brexit, and Big Tech

Charlie and Michael have a heated debate over Elizabeth Warren’s proposal to break up big tech, while David and Rich are determined not to be left out of the conversation. They also discuss the admission scandal, Brexit, and much more, all on this week’s episode of The Editors.

Our society values college, but it doesn’t value knowledge, education, erudition, or any of the things college ought to represent.

I’m a TA at a large public university. What do I see? Abject mediocrity. An oversized high school. A bunch of bored teenagers and twenty-somethings thrown together with no sense of purpose, no sense of meaning, and no real interest in being here.

What brings most of them to this place? Their parents’ expectations. Their society’s expectations. But nothing more.

I guess this was the month when I discovered how much of an idealist Charlie Cooke is.

Only Democrats should be allowed to use specific executive action laws, and now something is going to rise up and replace Google.

Somebody — some conservative — in his or her garage is going to replace Google? They had many years to do something like this. No one has been very interested in doing this.

It’s like the episode of Seinfeld where Frank Costanza getting in the computer business in his garage.

George: Dad, you know what it takes to compete with Microsoft and IBM?

Frank: Yes, I do. That’s why I got a secret weapon … my son.

…

I’m just interested in Freedom of Speech and how some companies are willing to ban conservatives. It has happened to me and others, and most us were anti-Trump or Trump skeptic conservatives.

I don’t care anything about Amazon, unless they ban most conservatives books from their website and even then there should be other alternatives to buy such books. Charlie is usually sensitive when ammunition and guns are banned. When the window of acceptable thought shrinks and slams shut on Charlie, perhaps he too will understand what the fuss is about.

I wish the editors, especially David French, would consider how the Supreme Court turbocharged this education mania with Griggs v Duke Power, the case that made a BA the mandatory credential and turned high school into a four year babysitting service for most of the young people involved. If potential employers were allowed to review a student’s high school transcript and teacher evaluations it could cause a revolution in this area.

From Brietbart: National Review editor-in-chief Rich Lowry wrote a searing attack on the “right-left pincer” attacking big tech for Politico. The piece fails to mention Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s recent acknowledgment that the National Review Institute, of which National Review is a wholly owned subsidiary, received money from his company.

Why wasn’t this disclosed during the Google discussion? Another reason never to contribute to NR again.

Hosts

Reihan Salam is executive editor and a National Review Institute Policy Fellow. He is a contributing editor of National Affairs, a member of the board of New America, and an advisor to the Energy Inno…[more]

Rich Lowry is the editor of National Review. He is a syndicated columnist and a commentator for the Fox News Channel. He writes for Politico, and often appears on such public affairs programs as Meet …[more]